Interlocking relay for railway-signals.



C. E. MASON.

IN'TERLOCKING RELAY FOR RAILWAY SIGNALS.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I3. 1907.

1,169,273. Patented @11.25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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C. E. MASON.

INTERLOCKING RELAY FOR RAILWAY SIGNALS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I3 1907.

Patented Jan. 25, 1916.

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CHARLES E. MASON, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

iNTERLocKING RELAY 'FOR RAiLWeY-srGNALs To allrfwhom t may concern: A Y

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. MASON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Interlocking Relays for Railway-Signals, and declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description ofthe saine, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and .use

I `the same, reference being hadtothe accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification. f

My invention relates to railway signals and more particularly to an interlocking i relay for use in crossing signal systems and the like. u

Myginvention has for its object to simplify and improve the construction of relays of the characterspeciied so as to renf der them more durable and more delicate and reliable in their operation.

To the above end my invention consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter pointed out with partioularity in the claims.

For a full understanding of my invention, however, and of its various objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1. is a top plan- View of a preferred form ofvrelay; Figi 2 is a bottom plan viewof the relay withthe casing re,-

f moved; Fig. 3 is a viewpartly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, a portion of the casing being bro-ken away for the sakev of clearness; Fig. 4 isa section taken on line 4 4 Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrows; and Figs. 5 and 6 are details.

Referring to the drawings A indicates a base composed of insulating 'materiah it being conveniently made of a slab of slate.

B and B are magnets of an `usual or suitf able construction, mounted upon one side of the base, near opposite ends thereof, so as to have their axes perpendicular to'the plane of the base. Since the Vbase is intended to occupy a horizontal position,

- vwhile the relay is in use, the magnets will normally be arranged vertically. On the under side of the base are arranged armatures C and C respectively, these arma- Specfica'tionrof Letters Patent.

Patenteaaan. 25, 191e.

Application filed September 13, 1907. SerialNo.` 352,614.

tures rbeing preferably supported rso. as. rto

swing about horizontal axes.

Each of the magnets, through its arma-l tunre, is adapted to control one set of a pair or interlocked switch devices. To Vthis end there is supported upon each armature a Z- shapedswitch arm adapted to interlock with the switch arm on the other armature, together with one or more `independent switch arms having any desired shape and being insulated from each other and Afrom the interlocking arms. The interlocking arms are indicated4 at D and D respectively, while l the additional, oras they are called, neutral,

switch arms, are indicated spectively.

The partsare so proportioned that when the electromagnets are denergized the contact pieces l and d on the ends of the interlocking arms engage with each other at E and E reandk with a iixed contact connected to a terminal D2 which terminal is arranged on the upper side of the base. At the same time the contact fingers e and e on the in-y ner ends of the arms Ey and E engage respectively with fixedV contacts e2 andy c3 arranged oii the under side of the base and connected-with terminals E2 and E3 respectively` llocated' on topof the base.

When both magnets are energized the engagementV between the fixed andy movable engagement is effected between contact lingers e4 and e5 arranged on the outer ends of the arms E and E and fixed contacts e and c7 arranged on the under side of the base andconnected respectively to terminals E4 and on the upper side ofthe base. At

the same time auxiliary contacts d2 and d on the outer ends of the members D and D respectively (where suoli auxiliary contacts are desired) engage with fixed contacts Z4 and d5, respectively, arrangedy upon the lower side of the base andconnected toterminals Dt and D5 respectively on top of the base. The arms D and D are electrically` connected to terminals DG and D7 respectively by means of flexible leads Z6 and i7 respectively. Similarly the arms E and E are connected to terminals E6 and E7 by means of flexible leads es and e9. The terminals D6 and D7 as well as the terminals E6 and E7 are located on the top of the base. It will therefore be seen that all of the electrical connections which it is necessary to make outside of the contacts effected by the switches themselves may be made O11 one side of the base and, by arranging all of the terminals symmetrically as illustrated, the wiring of the relay is simple and easily accomplished. rThe wiring has not been shown, since this will vary, of course, with the nature of the signal circuits.

It is a purpose of the present invention to do away with the necessity for springs or other auxiliary means for carrying the movable contact members into o-ne operative position upon denergization of the magnets. To this endheach of the armatures is preferably formed of a flat strip or plate which is pivoted near one edge thereof so that upon denergization of the corresponding magnet coil the armature drops quickly and forces the movable contact lingers against the fixed contacts, as indicated in Fig. 3, with considerable pressure. A very satisfactory method of supporting the armatures consists in providing a bracket F secured to the under side of the base plate in any suitable manner and having ears 7 through which may be passed screws c arranged to engage with the ends of the armature. I prefer to make the major portion of the screws of brass on account of its cheapness and to provide a small trunnion portion 0 on the end of cach screw to act as the pivot.

Considerable dilliculty has been experienced in providing a cheap and reliable insulated connection between switch arms of the character shown and the armatures and one of the features of the present relay comprises a novel form of support for the movable switch members. This support is most clearly shown in Fig. 6 where C is the armature and D one of the interlocking switch arms. G, Gr are a pair of bone bushings arranged between the members C and D and spacing them apart. g g are studs, also of bone, passing through the switch arm and the bushings into the armature. g g are nuts upon the outer ends of the studs, these nuts firmly tying all 'of the parts together.

In order to shield all of the more delicate parts and at the same time permit them to be readily inspected l provide a casing H preferably of glass which is secured to the bottom of the base and completely incloses all of the mechanism beneath the base. A rubber gasket, or the like, z, is preferably interposed between the casing or the base to malte the joint perfectly tight. The casing may be secured in place in any suitable manner, as for example, by means of rods h which pass through the base and through the casing and are provided with heads or projections h2 on the lower ends thereof which act as feet for supporting the casing.

The Contact fingers and the surfaces of contacts e2 and e3 are preferably made of platinum, and the contacts e and eT in the form of carbon rollers, but it will, of course, be understood that other materials may be employed when desired.

l/Vhile I have described with particularity a preferred construction and arrangement of parts, I do not desire to be limited thereto except to the extent specilically pointed out in the appended claims.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. In a relay, a pair of Vertical magnets, a pair of armatures pivotally mounted beneath said magnets so as to swing about horizontal aXes, a contact piece arranged between said armatures, interlocking contact arms carried by said armatures in planes at right angles to the axes of the magnets and coperating with said contact piece, additional contact pieces arranged on opposite sides of each of said armatures, and switch arms carried by each of said armatures and arranged to engage at their one end with the coperating contacts on one side of the armatures when the magnets are denergized and at their other end with the coperating contacts on the other side of the armature when the magnets are energized.

2. ln a relay, a pair of 'vertical magnets, a pair of armatures pivotally mounted beneath said magnets so as to swing about horizontal axes, a contact piecearranged between said armatures, and contact arms carried by said armatures in planes at right angles to theV axes of the magnets and having interlocking contact with each other and coperating with said contact piece.

ln testimony whereof, l sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. MASON. TWitnesses:

WM. F. F anUDENnEIoi-r, HARRY S. Gaim-nan.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

